Hancock Websites

I'm having a down day--caught a "summer cold", URI, a.k.a. in some circles as the "[Insert Ethnicity Desired] Creeping Crud". I'm not sure I can make sense. So I thought I'd just give a boost to the newly-remodeled Hancock Websites It's already listed on MyBLogLog with a page of it's own, but not much is there because the site doesn't really have a blog ... yet. The site's all there, though, rather slimmed down.

I hope to add a form for prospective clients to fill out concerning their aspirations and wants for their websites. So many don't know what is available. None know the amount of work that goes into a custom-designed site. I think many don't even know what having a site can do for their careers. I just heard of a novelist whose agent advised her to put up a website with a blog for more visibility to publishers. Yes, times are changing. We are already in the Digital Age.

Writing Website Advice

Ordinarily I don't dis others' contributions to make the world a better place for freelancers and other writers. Usually, when I run across an article that makes dubious claims in the guise of expertise, I just try to counter with a positive piece of my own. I'm going to make an exception for an article that Jeff Wuorio wrote for ConnectIT, a newsletter for small and medium businesses.

Wurio has written several books and articles on personal finance and business. He has a free email account with Roadrunner, a free blog design with content loaded by Blogger, hosted on the free server site Blogspot, and as far as I could find, no website. While I might voraciously read his works for help battling reluctant early retirement, life in an era of inflation with a fixed income, and other personal financial crises, why should I trust his views on Nine Things Not to have on your website? I ask because I see the link being passed around among writers and publishers.

Most people might heavily salt such advice or perhaps seriously consider it--if it were backed up by heavyweight site design experts, but those quoted in the article are all in public relations. Some of the tips are, indeed, common sense issues, like not giving away trade secrets or confusing viewers. But c'mon, don't have your photo on the first page? Don't get personal or provide communication information? The opposite are basic tenets of site design according to guru Jakob Nielsen and many other professionals in businesses like A List Apart, SitePoint, Mezzoblue/css Zen Garden. Even good ol' Web Monkey offers free credible web design tutoring (by Wired.com).

Writing in a Positive Light

I'm seeing many requests asking how to remain positive in a world that seems to be so depressing. It looks like everything is gloom and doom: the stock market, prices for necessities, wars, babies stuck in holes, natural catastrophes ... all the media reporting negative happenings. It is true that bad news is news. Some writers feel that being surrounded by so much sadness saps their creative energies. Others point to depression as their Writer's Block. The most difficult situation to deal with must be that of a negative individual in your daily life.

One writer, and editor of the Internet Wizards magazine online, Bonnie Boots, offers 7 Steps To Staying Positive In A Negative World. I happen to know that Bonnie has survived some tough stuff in her life, and I am in awe of how she is able to not only carry on, but bounce back running. Some of her tips include:

1. Practice humor
2. Use physical reminders of positives
3. Get away from negativity

Her points for specifically handling a negative person you must deal with (an editor, perhaps?) are truly gems, but I wanted to focus on the third item above. One way to distance yourself from the negative influences in your life is to reduce your exposure to them. When I get my hands on a newspaper, I head straight for the comics section. Customers in my neighborhood Starbucks are familiar with the sound of laughter when I visit.

Tune your radios to stations that play music to either invigorate you or soothe the passions. No talk radio to inflame or lay on downers! When someone begins a rant or a conversation of complaints, don't hesitate to interrupt and jerk (if necessary) the talk back on track or to a pleasant topic. Look into yoga, meditation and other eastern practices to even your outlook. It is true that you become what you fill your mind with, so repeat positive affirmations throughout the day.

Strange as it may sound, using the Twelve Step "attitude of gratitude" can also help banish the blues. Learn to focus on the smallest blessings that surround you. Take compliments with grace and hug them to your heart. Let your mind bathe in the positivity than surrounds you, point it out to others, and as the old song says, "Accentuate the Positive".

Statistics for Writing on Blogs

Many readers of A Writer's Edge are bloggers. Some do it for pleasure, some for practice or as a writing prompt, some share useful information, and probably a few are in it for the money (good luck!) If you're a blogger, you might be interested in these Important Blogging Statistics from the producers of the Blog World Expo, coming up in September in Las Vegas:

• Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
• More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
• Over 57 million Americans read blogs.
• 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
• 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
• 9% of internet users say they have created blogs.
• 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog.
• Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs.
• Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day.
• There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.
• 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs.
• 120,000 new blogs are created every day.
• 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006.
• 51% of blog readers shop online.
• Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.

The people who run this operation also have an interesting and useful blog about blogging and bloggers. Blogs and blogging seem to be where it's at these days, whatever "it" is. Now, don't you feel smart?

Amazon Me!

Usually I'm telling people to "just Google me" as a means for verifying my existence or credibility or simply satisfying curiosity. However, when it comes to book matters, more and more I'm tempted to tell them to "just Amazon me". If only Amazon.com would make that simpler.

I have at least four different types of accounts with the Book Master: as a purchaser (that one is private), a seller with a storefront, an Amazon Associate (you can see my id number in the link to books I feature a post -- writersedge0a-20), and with a Profile that I'm not certain is linked to anything else, but currently I can't seem to get at to update.

My profile contains a "So You'd Like to ..." Guide to be a freelance writer, a rather simple article, a Wishlist of books I'd like to own for writing, and a Listmania of some recommended resources for writers.

I think I've confounded the website's amazing mind by trying to synch up all my logins. Should be simple, no? Why can't one identification allow a user access to all features (like a Google ID) and allow visitors access to all the information about someone?

I've barely scratched the paint on Amazon. I have no books I've written for sale and seldom write reviews or blog or use the latest innovations for authors. For those of you who do use Amazon, whether it's to market books, shorts or e-docs, it might pay you to mine the site for all the gems of self-promotion it offers.

Writers Socializing

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Social Networking for Writing

The other day I mentioned social bookmarking as a social service writers can use to promote themselves and market their writings. The bookmarking services to use with websites and blogs (especially) are both parts of and forms of social networking. The term applies to making connections with people on the Internet. I think cyber-networking or digital- or electronic- or something other than "social" would be a less confusing terminology, but we're stuck with "social". Yes, it's the same as networking socially, in real life, but perhaps with more intensity and intimate overtones.

Just as in the physical world, social networking requires joining, attending, and participating to benefit. I'm referring to those special websites with interactive capabilities: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Orkut, Friendster, to name some of the original and general ones. The concept is simple, really: sign up, add as much information as you wish to a profile, find "friends" with similar interests. Sharing your other social networking connections (sites and friends) is becoming more common, as are niche networks, like Flickr for photography, MyBlogLog, and LibraryThing for booklovers.

If you expand the definition of social networking to include participation in chats, forums and mailing lists, the potential for writers to exploit this newer tool increases. By always using a link or the name of your website/book/business in the signatures used on these types of sites, a writer can custom-build a social network, a fan base, traffic potential. Seeking out and contacting others, making cogent comments, offering assistance -- all are ways to "work" the social network. It isn't enough to just join and not be active. In fact, I think it may be detrimental to your appearance/reputation.

Ah, there's the rub: the work. It takes time, energy and concentration to utilize a social network. That's why writers must carefully select which ones to join and limit participation to a few at a time. Give one several months to show positive results. If it doesn't, then drop "unjoin" that one and move on to another. I find that a focus on one chat, one forum, and one general group are about all I can handle. While writers need to spend about half their time promoting or marketing, more than that becomes counterproductive in that there's no time to produce new writing. These Google search results will lead you to social networking sites for writers.

Writing About Yourself

When I talk to writers' groups about having a blog and website, inevitably someone asks, "I haven't even finished my book yet--do I need a blog or website already?" In this month's Writing4Success Tipsheet, Australian writer Marg McAlister urges writers to take care of publicity and promotion wherever they are in their careers:

The truth is that unless you are a well-known author with a lot of book sales behind you (and possibly not even then!) you are unlikely to get much in the way of publicity from publishers. The more you can do yourself, the better - and the earlier you start, the better. Don't wait until you have a book in hand. Don't even wait until you sign a contract. The best time to start promoting yourself and your work is NOW.

I'm here to tell you that you don't even need to be writing a book for the advice to be applicable. McAlister's article continues to say that in addition to a ready resume and a good photo, you should consider having the following items:

• a media kit
• a website
• a blog

Sound familiar? She explains the what and why--and this is only the first part of a two-section article. Find more tipsheets at the Writing4Success Club.

Red Room for Writing

As far as I've noticed, Red Room is the latest social networking site for writers that is high class and high caliber in terms of participants and functionality. It's in the stratosphere, it's so high. When PR flack Veronica contacted me last month, she said:

It's an online community for authors and readers, and has been called a 'literary MySpace'. It's getting a lot of attention in the investor and writer community, and the founder, Ivory Madison, has a great story to tell about how she turned her local writing studio into a global community for writers. Already building the community are household names like Maya Angelou, Amy Tan, Salman Rushdie, Jane Smile, Alice Walker, Po Bronson, Khaled Hosseni, James Patterson and hundreds more.

Yeah, sure, I thought. After examining the place, I'm wondering how they persuaded top-selling, already-famous authors to participate, and what does that part about "investor" really mean? Usually investors are interested in ways to make money, not charitably fostering literary connections.

The rest of Victoria's release (no last name given) quotes from Madison on a major political candidate (way to alienate half the nation!) and stressed that Red Room is a "creative social network" that provides "community between authors and readers". I can find no way for two-way communication, unless you count comments on blogs. Just finding a particular writer's blog requires searching and wading through layers of menus. Sadly, most everyone's fave, Stephen King, is not listed, although many, many others are.

So, I'm suspecting this is an enterprise set up, perhaps, with publishers or publicists, and the anticipated investors are advertisers. All in all, it offers about everything a writer could want in the way of promotion and marketing, including the ability to link to your own website. Oh, and no cost is mentioned.

If anyone reading this post is a member or regular user of Red Room, please let us know about your experience and impressions of the service.

Book Editor Departs

Last night at the local guild meeting, the book editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Arthur Salm, announced he is becoming a reporter for the paper's Metro section. He didn't know what will happen to the books "pages", recently reduced from a pull-out section to two pages inside Arts and Entertainment.

Salm discussed what book reviews are and aren't, gave an overview of his incredibly tedious and boring-sounding job, predicted that Internet news content providers will start charging and bookstores will use POD. He seemed intent on impressing us with the abrupt rise to his current editorial position based on his apparently innate writing skills. He stressed:

• his B.A. in an unrelated field
• lack of any writing courses
• background as a bus driver
  
• experience as an unpaid movie critic on radio

His single editing credential consisted of proofreading copyright lines on reprints for a local academic press. Otherwise, he shuffled papers for that publisher, then skated into the job at the paper.

I don't know what to make of this, except to admit that I never took any journalism classes, either, although I had every creative writing class Northwestern offered. Otherwise, I have a prediction: the books editor position at the paper may not be filled, in keeping with the declining size and quality of the medium. I suspect that's been the plan for a long time.

Goodbye, Arthur. We wish you well.

Writers' Attitudes Matter

How embarrassing! I invited everyone to join me in The Writer's Chatroom yesterday, and then I showed up late. Mea culpa! However, the part I caught was a great lesson in writerly behavior and attitude. One dude who claimed to be a successful writer was insulting the others, trashing Steven King (I mean THE KING!) and generally making an A$$ of himself.

I guess if you want to continue the myth of "The Lonely Writer" that's as good a way as any other to ensure you'll be alone. At least his company is not welcome in a gathering of writers and those who aspire to become writers. Or probably editors, either. The fact that we sometimes critique each others' work, does not open the door to criticizing the rest of others' lives.

The big take-away for me was a reinforcement of the truth that the way we talk about other people reveals much more about ourselves than them. Calling others "failures" if they don't write full time, suggests a self-loathing equal to that of Hunter S. Thompson. The way we talk about ourselves to ourselves and others also influences our happiness and success. Find something nice to say, or at least think, about someone else today. Then find something nice to say about yourself.

SmartLinks Amazing Technology for Writers

A new-to-me company, Adaptive Blue, is offering "smart links" and SmartLink Widgets to enhance blogs and websites. They come in a variety of flavors (stocks, music, wine, movies), but we'll focus on the one for books. SmartLinks for Books shows an example (image to the right) of the results of clicking on a blue arrow (like this one ) embedded in your text, using the widget to:

* Get a preview of the cover and description
* Choose from book sites like Amazon, B&N, etc.
* Find it in the local library via WorldCat
* Bookmark using a favorite service
* Post book link to Facebook or Twitter
* Access the best reviews from around the web
* Find similar books by subject and customer picks
* Find more books by the same author
* Lookup author's bio and web links

If you scroll down to the lower part of the page, you'll see a visual of a different type of book widget and a link to the widget page itself. Prepare yourself to be amazed, confused, and perhaps overwhelmed at first. The versatility of this technology blows me away! Two other resources on using this tool are the BlueBlog and the Book Widget Gallery.

To Fraser, whomever you are, thanks for the email introducing me to this amazing service.

If any of you readers are already using a SmartLinks widget to enhance your online writing, please let us know about your experiences and implementation.

Writing out a Recession

Gasp! Yes, the financial pundits are promulgating the "R" word, daring to utter that daunting epithet "recession" out loud. If you've lived long enough, you may just sigh and stop thinking about running off to the tropics on a nice vacation, delay plans to purchase a new car this year, or just drop your nose a little closer to the grindstone. Younger people tend to tense up when they hear the mysterious "R" word, mainly because they don't know exactly how it might affect them.

Let's make it personal. A recession is a slow down in the overall economy. Fewer jobs, more layoffs, smaller pay increases (if any), budget cuts and most of all: a reduction in advertising. You may think you're safe as a freelancer. None of those factors can affect you, can they? When business is bad, companies cut out nonessential expenses, and the first to go is usually advertising. Seems counter intuitive, but that's a fact of life. Less advertising means less revenue for publishers, which leads to fewer pages for writers to fill.

I've never forgotten a page I saw in 1973 taped to a newsroom wall of the Dayton Daily News:

The country was in a recession at the time. I'd been laid off from The Miami Herald and wanted to move back home to Ohio. No go. No jobs for journalists.

When the usual writing jobs dry up, competition increases and editors are less likely to take chances on newcomers. Time to think sideways and find niches you can fill that aren't dependent on advertising income. If you have a good grasp of the mechanics of writing and live near a university, students always need editing help with their papers, theses and dissertations. N.B.: I did not say, "Write their papers." Some other potential money-makers:

1. resume preparation
2. writing for nonprofits (which doesn't mean they can't afford to pay you)
3. ghostwriting memoirs for seniors (market at retirement centers by giving a free class)

Start thinking about it now. What other recession-proof writing jobs can you come up with? Share them with us in a comment.

Good Blogging for Writers

Did I remember to tell you that Writer's Digest editor Maria Schneider added A Writer's Edge to her exclusive Project 20/20:

So here's the deal: There are 20 Fridays left in 2007. Starting next Friday, I'm going to highlight one writer's blog each week then add it to my guaranteed-to-be-fabulous blogroll.

I'm looking for blogs that:
• are dedicated to the topic of writing and/or publishing
• are updated frequently
• are owned and maintained by private individuals

from The Writer's Perspective

After completing her 20-link blogroll, Maria has gathered together 20 Tips for Good Blogging. Being the ed of the leading serial publication for writers, you can bet that she produced these tips with writers in mind. We may disagree on some of the aspects of blogging, but, hey--there are no RULES, only guidelines suggested by experience. Sort of like in creative writing, right?

Dubious Blogger Awards

A shady practice may have begun long before The Blog Fairy started handing out her lovely Blue Ribbon Blogger awards:
and then suddenly (to some of us) passed on into the fairy heavens:Since the time that Blog Fairy anonymously tapped me through MyBlogLog, A Writer's Edge or I have received a few more awards from people I know, ones I call my "Internet Friends". Suspicion crept in, however, when I began to receive ones with instructions to link back to the givers, and sometimes to an originator, as well as to a certain amount of new awardees. I bristled, as always, at being told what to do. I can think for myself, thank you very much!

Perhaps I was naive from the get-go, but I think I've watched this formerly generous and meaningful practice degenerate into just another shallow attempt to obtain link backs (obviated by Google's revision of the PageRank algorithm). It's a silly, blatant form of viral marketing that reached the ultimate (I hope) this holiday with bloggers passing around growing lists of blogs ostensibly as seasonal greetings. Call me Grinch, but I refused to participate.

Yes, I suppose the same process occurred with the "top women blogging on writing" or whatever that list was. I recall the moment I quit following those links and realized people were just passing on someone else's recommendations without personally evaluating the writers or the blogs. It was nice to be included at the beginning of the pyramid (it's always good to be near the top!) But like any pyramid scheme, it turns into a valueless scam very quickly. And I don't think it fools any half-savvy readers.

Am I hot or what?

Writing Real Characters

Envision a picket line with Scarlett O'Hara, Sherlock Holmes, and Lazarus Long carrying signs, "Characters are People too!" Fictional depictions demand an emotional life that is similar to what you and I experience. People in the grip of strong emotions do not always behave in ways that makes logical sense. But they do make emotional sense. For that to happen in fiction writing, it helps to understand the psychology of humans.

A good example of an action making only emotional sense happened to me in 2006 when my mother died suddenly. I performed a hasty sorting and shipped most of her household goods to my home (2000 miles away). Once all the "stuff" entered my house, I shoved it into cupboards.

Thus, 18 months later, I find Mama's can of asparagus in the pantry. "I hate canned asparagus," I tell a friend. "Why did I keep this?"

She shrugs and offers, "Because it was your mothers?" Like all the rest of the junk I can now get rid of, it represents my mother too quickly snatched away. We have many unresolved issues. Surrounding myself with her belongings softened the blow and allowed me to cope with grief at my own pace.

Simple little touches like this will show your character's psychological makeup far better than telling readers, "She couldn't bear to let go of her mother, and that's why she kept the canned asparagus, which she hates." Grammatically correct and flat to read.

Free Books to Help Writers

John Kremer of bookmarket.com runs another website of great service and use to writers: Free Books for All. The nonfiction sections available include:

1. Free Business, Economics, Personal Finance, and Computer Books
2. Free How-to Books: Art, Beauty, Cookbooks, Crafts, Entertainment, Gardening, Health, Home, Movies, Music, Parenting, Relationships, Travel, Sports
3. Free Memoirs, Biographies, Quotable Books, Writing/Publishing, and Reference
4. Free Spiritual, Religious, Mind/Body/Spirit, and Self-Help Books
5. Free Ecology, History, Philosophy, Politics, Science, and Social Issues Books

Don't skip perusing the Business page. There you'll find a collection of Seth Godin's wisdom on blogging and viral marketing. Sure, these books are available around the 'net, but here they are all in one spot. Free for the taking!

Writers Learn From Cats

From the continuing series of writers and cats: the All I Need to Know I Learned From My Cat (And Then Some) quiz (scroll down and click).

Holiday Gifts for Writers

If you have writers on your holiday gift list (or want to drop hints to others)-- how about a present that will further careers? Be a Successful Writer and the two volumes on Effective Websites for Writers will provide useful information and show how much you care!

Fair Use and Copyright Infringement

Sarah Bird claims to be an attorney (I think--if that's what being a "former litigator" means). At the SEOmoz.org website, she offers a lengthy article on What's Fair About Fair Use? Defending a Copyright Infringement Claim. Fair use, of course, is kind of the flip side of copyright protection, and it's a most controversial part of the law. This is mainly because the law is vague (in my opinion) concerning what constitutes an allowable reproduction of copyrighted materials. Instead of citing a specific amount of material that can be used, the law requires certain conditions be met. Again, they are open to interpretation, usually by lawyers:

⇒ There are four factors to consider when determining whether you are illegally infringing someone’s copyright or merely employing fair use of the material:
→ The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is nor nonprofit educational purposes;
→ The nature of the copyrighted work.
→ The amount and substantially of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
→ The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The purpose of Bird's article, however, is not to help you protect your writing, but rather to help you with the "fair use" defense. If you recycle someone else's work, as we bloggers often do, and the author feels you've infringed on the copyright, understanding the fair use section of the Copyright Act may help you. Seems to me that a comprehensive understanding would benefit all writers, no matter on which side of the fence of fair use they sit.

Set a Writing Goal System

We're coming to the time when traditionally we dream up a list of ways to fail during the coming year. They're called New Years resolutions. I've noticed that refraining from making huge commitments for an extended period is much less effective than taking it a day at a time. I say, "I make resolutions every morning. That's all I can live." When it comes to writing, we're prone to make these resolutions too large, too comprehensive and, let's face it, rather thoughtlessly.

Maybe something different will work better and allow you to feel good about yourself. Instead of the monoliths of resolutions, let's design a simple system of writing goals, rewards and evaluations.

GOALS

The goals must have the attribute of being within your sphere of control. Any goal which involves the words "get an agent" or "will be published" is automatically disqualified (unless you are a publisher). Large goals (like writing a book) need to be divided into sub-goals or mileposts. When a milepost is reached, reward yourself. And begin with a mini-goal you know you can reach to earn a mini-reward. This is setting yourself up for success. Nothing breeds success like success, so get yourself started on a positive roll! Fewer large goals are more likely to be reached within a given time frame, so be realistic.

REWARDS

If your goals are many or include many steps, set up a reward hierarchy that provides little, bitty rewards (like just one chocolate from the candy box) for the smallest successes up to a big reward for completing the major. Only you can decide rewards for yourself. Don't forget intrinsic ones like sharing and celebrating with others. A couple of 'attagirls' can light up your day. If you can tie the rewards to your writing life, so much the better. How about a magazine subscription or a book on writing for a mid-level reward? Or drive downtown to participate in a writing group--you've earned it and damn the gas price!

EVALUATIONS

Standing between working on goals and getting rewards comes the evaluation part. Two major ones begin and end this process. Yeah, it takes time and a little effort and it might provide negative feedback, but this is information you can use to improve your process or system or plan (call it what you will, they're all good words). After drawing up your initial list of goals, review them for feasibility in terms of time, resources, impact on others and potential unwanted effects. You may find yourself overextended and need to cut back or cut out. This is also the time you may discover a goal needs to be broken down into additional smaller steps. Don't forget to adjust the rewards to be compensatory with success at the mini-goal or step.

As the year progresses, periodic "process evaluations" will help determine if you're on track and where adjustments might need to be made. Perhaps you underestimated the amount of time needed for one part of reaching a particular goal. Maybe a step needs further reduction to more manageable steps. As you fine-tune your system, it will work better and better. At the end of the year (or whatever time frame you chose), perform another evaluation and decide if this was beneficial for you. If it resulted in an effective way to manage your career, carry on. That's the best reward--to have found way to work that rewards you and leads to success.

Blogs for Writers Contest Nears End

The end is coming! Only three days left to nominate A Writer's Edge as a Top Ten Blogs for Writers over at Michael Stelzner's Writing White Papers. Just hit the preceding link and leave a comment as Michael asks.

Here's the selection process:

1. Initial qualification: A site must have been nominated multiple times by multiple individuals (and be a blog). If someone nominated more than one blog, only the first nomination was counted.

2. Final winner selection:

* Quality of posts: A qualitative analysis of the content of posts will be examined. Educational and discussion-spurring posts are more valuable than self-promotional posts. (55% of decision)

* Frequency of posts: Blogs that write multiple posts per week will score higher. This is a sign of the blog’s commitment to blogging. (15%)

* Reader involvement: Blogs that have regular comments from readers are another sign of a healthy blog. In addition, the numbers of nominations for a specific blog play a part in this. (15%)

* Technorati.com Ranking: The number of other blogs that link to the blog shows the value of the content. (15%)